Recently I started playing Chrono Trigger again, and I played past the part where Chrono, Marle, and Lucca see a clip of the Day of Lavos. Afterward, the player is given the "decision" as to whether to save the future or not.

When I was a kid, I thought this was a no-brainer; this bleak world should not even be allowed to exist. Replaying the game, though, made me appreciate that the characters were going to fight for a future they would never get to truly live in and that they could have simply walked away from adventure after finding a way back home. Still, there was something off about how this decision was presented.

However, on this latest replay of the game, what struck me was how willing both Marle and Lucca were to change things for the better, practically goading the player into hitting yes. While I understand this was done in part to push players to choose to agree to fight destiny, this also robbed the decision of the weight it was supposed to have. Glossing over the ethics is understandable, but the lack of hesitancy or even bringing up a counterpoint doesn't make the decision seem like much of an actual choice.

What do you think? Do you think this scene was fine as is, or do you think that there could have been a little back-and-forth to drive the weight of this decision home?

This might be in the wrong forum, but I couldn't quite figure out where to put this as this is pure speculation.

I know it would have been near-impossible due to hardware limitations, but what do you think Chrono Trigger would have been like had it used four party members instead of three party members. Would it have been too chaotic? What would Quad Techs look like? What if it had also included a two-player mode like SNES Final Fantasy III?

It seems that with regard to theory and the storyline, there's not much to be discussed. What about the game mechanics themselves, especially for Chrono Trigger? Things like how the battle systems. I don't mean just like an FAQ, which would give a brief analysis. I mean stuff like AOE of Techs, which enemies would be most vulnerable to techs, general enemy behavior and stuff like that.

There's also the very likely possibility that the stuff is here but I'm just not seeing it. But would it be possible to add a section like this, or would it be pointless?

I was looking through some of my old Game Players magazines today and came across a two-page spread devoted to the secrets of Chrono Trigger. Naturally, most of these "secrets" were bare bones at best (and it contained a reference to finding Schala ), but it was interesting to revisit the past in this way, since we don't have Gate Keys or Epochs to actually do so.

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, or if it's even okay to ask, but I'm going to throw the question out there anyway.

I love the sprite work in Chrono Trigger, and I love looking at (and at times attempting to make) fan sprites. Years ago, I came across an edit of Crono as Super Saiya-jin Goku from Dragonball Z, and it even had Goku's hair "pulsating" as an animated gif effect. However, I foolishly never saved the file, and it seems to have been sent into the DBT.

Does anyone either have this file or at least know what image I'm talking about?

What do you suppose exactly is Marle's "Aura" technique and why does she know it?

It's a physical healing technique, but unlike the other similar healing techniques, it is more vague than the others. More importantly, Marle is a normal human being and would not have access to a supernatural ability to heal, and she doesn't exactly have the type of personality that would lead her to consciously developing healing powers.

In any case, from the animation, Aura seems like an energy transference of some sort, but clearly, Marle does not know magic at the beginning of the game, and Chrono Trigger makes it clear that Marle is not related to any of the natural magic using characters. Would Schala's pendant carry some residual unlocking potential to allow Marle to heal? If the expression of her healing potential were innate, is it a Guardia family secret? If it's a result of some training, why have no other non-playable characters demonstrated this ability?

Edit: I realize this probably was the wrong forum for this discussion, as I see similar topics discussed in detail in another forum. I'm sorry everyone.

While these questions probably have been asked a million times before, I feel like asking it a millionth and one time.

Has anyone ever wondered what would have happened if Janus hadn't conveniently been placed near the Mystics when deposited in the Middle Ages? What do you would have happened had Janus been dropped in the middle of nowhere with no one around? Would he have been able to survive long on his own? What if he had been thrown in Guardia instead and with other people? Do you think he would have defected to the Mystics, given that strategically it would be better for his plans (they're magic using and thus more useful for him to get revenge against Lavos)? Would he have done like he did in Zeal, hiding his magic power for his own protection when in public view? Would he have worked to become a legendary hero in the eyes of the public and then use that status to his benefit?

While I love the way it happened in the game, sometimes I wonder "what if?"

This may not be one of the best questions, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I've noticed that people claim that Chrono Trigger is the biggest SNES RPG, referring specifically to its size. What precisely is meant by this? Furthermore, specifically what aspects of the game make it so big? Is it the number of Techs and combinations, the sprite animations, the number of freely explorable eras, the number and size of dungeons, or the battle system itself and enemy placement?